Mobile Phone Data

Task Team of the UN Committee of Experts on Big Data and Data Science for Official Statistics

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About Mobile Phone Data

Introduction

The statistical community has the obligation of exploring the use of new data sources, such as Big Data, to meet the expectation of the society for enhanced products and improved and more efficient ways of working. Use of Big Data could also support the monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by improving timeliness, frequency, detail and relevance of indicators without compromising their impartiality and methodological soundness. The reports of the UN Committee of Experts on Big Data and Data Science for Official Statistics (UN-CEBD) to the Statistical Commission (E/CN.3/2015/4, E/CN.3/2016/6, E/CN.3/2017/7, E/CN.3/2018/8 and E/CN.3/2019/27) provide additional background to the work of the task teams.

Mobile phones are used by large parts of the population in all parts of the world, and it is thus expected that Mobile Phone data could fill data gaps worldwide. In its 2018 "Measuring the Information Society Report", ITU shows that the average mobile subscription rate is 107.0 per 100 inhabitants world wide, with a lower average in Africa (76.0). Nevertheless, these numbers show how pervasive mobile phone use is. ITU elaborates that mobile phone use in rural areas is generally lower than in urban areas, and this should be considered in studies using Mobile Phone data, but it is clear that the coverage of these data is global. Almost every person in the world lives within reach of a mobile-cellular signal.

Objectives

Given the wide-spread use of mobile phones in developed and developing countries, and in urban and rural areas, and against the background of a need for detailed statistics for policy purposes, including data to monitor the goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, this task team should develop methodology to get complementary information and quality checks of SDG indicators using mobile phone data, particularly on usage of mobile phone data to facilitate the monitoring of orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people (Target 10.7) as well as to monitor tourism as an enabler of economic growth and creator of jobs (Target 8.9). Further, based on the methodology developed, the task team should conduct capacity workshops and trainings, awareness raising events and projects that could illustrate how countries could benefit from the use of mobile phone data.

Methodological Guides on the use of Mobile Phone Data (2022)

Publications

Handbook on the use of Mobile Phone data for Official Statistics (2019)

Events

MPD Session at the 7th International Conference on Big Data
Yogyakarta, Indonesia   8 Nov 2022
MPD Workshops at the 7th International Conference on Big Data Part 1, Part 2
Yogyakarta, Indonesia   10 - 11 Nov 2022
Expo2020 Workshop on Mobile Phone Data
Dubai, UAE   26 Jan 2022
2021 ISI World Statistics Congress Sessions
Virtual Webinars   July 2021
Measuring the information society using new data sources Download Case Study  
6 May 2021 Partnership session of WSIS 2020
Oman's Experience in Utilizing Mobile Positioning Data for Official Statistics
Virtual Webinar   12 Apr 2021
Mobile phone data for official statistics – addressing data accessibility, privacy, and regulatory issues
Asia-Pacific Stats Café Series   5 Apr 2021
Mobile Tartu 2020
Univ. of Tartu, Estonia   29 Jun - 1 Jul 2020
International Meeting on Measuring Human Mobility
  Tbilisi, Georgia         27 - 29 March 2019

Deliverables

The Task team aims to achieve the following goals in 2024 in three broad areas:

  1. Methods:
    2.
    1. Continue work on synthetic data sets and explore how it can be used for the preparation of training materials and delivery of the workshops and trainings
    2. Extend mandate of all subgroups to develop step-by-step/non-technical methodology on how to use MPD for official statistics and indicators
      1. Develop training materials, including e-learning courses, on the six Guides
    3. Re-organize the MPD Task Team website to reflect all materials, events, webinars and activities.
  2. Events:
    1. Organize workshops during the International Seminar on Data Science for the Statistical and Transport Communities, Dubai, January 2024
      1. Launch of methodological Guide on Transport statistics using MPD - January 2024
      2. Demo of the synthetic data work
    2. Series of webinars in collaboration with the Regional Hubs (see one webinar programme)
      1. Africa
      2. UAE
      3. China
      4. Brazil
    3. Conduct training workshops (both online and face-to-face) to support regional capacity development on the use of mobile phone data in the national statistical offices, in collaboration with regional hubs
    4. Participate actively in the international events to raise awareness on available methodological Guides and work of the MPD Task Team the (including in the UN Statistical Commission 2024, World Data Forum in Colombia in 2024, World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium 2024, etc).
  3. Collaboration/Country Pilots:
    4.
    1. Collaboration with the Mobile Phone Data for Policy under the World Bank's Global Data Facility project
    2. Work with existing other UN-CEBD task teams such as the TT on Training and Capacity Building, TT-SDG and UN initiatives where mobile phone big data can be used
    3. Collaborate with the Task Team on Privacy preserving techniques on preparing methods and use cases on MPD, see a Proof of Concept.
    4. Collaborate on the implementation of country pilots based to requests.

Completed Deliverables

Task Team members

Countries

  • Brazil
  • Colombia
  • Gambia
  • Georgia
  • Ghana
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Kazakhstan
  • Republic of Korea
  • Malaysia
  • Mexico
  • Netherlands
  • Oman
  • Philippines
  • Qatar
  • Romania
  • Saudi Arabia
  • UAE
  • Viet Nam

Agencies

  • Eurostat
  • IMF
  • IOM
  • ITU (Chair)
  • UN-ECE
  • UN-ESCWA
  • UNFPA
  • UNSD
  • World Bank

Other

  • Flowminder
  • GSMA
  • Positium
  • Telenor
  • University of Tokyo, Spatial Data Commons
  • Indian School of Business
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